The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) is aimed at expanding humanity’s knowledge about the cosmos and its place in it through frontier research in astrophysics and space science, fostering technological progress through the development of innovative instrumentation, and disseminating our research among the scientific community and general public.
The research activity at the IAA covers all major fields of astrophysics and space science, from quantum gravity over the Solar System to galaxy evolution and cosmology, and enables it to play a leading role in large international projects. Our research is based on observation, instrumental development, and theoretical and numerical studies, all of which are firmly established and interconnected. Only a small handful of institutes worldwide are able to cover almost all fields of astrophysics/space science and to engage both in remote (Earth-bound) and in-situ (space-based) observations with technological development.
IAA plays a leading role in the development of space-borne and ground-based instruments. Among our milestones, we highlight the immensely successful ROSETTA space mission, the instrument CARMENES for CAHA, the CAHA legacy survey CALIFA, and the coordination, since 2011, of the scientific and technological participation of Spain in the SKA